Friday, October 26, 2007

Driver 8 FarewellDefining the character of a bike company isn't easy. There are engineers, assemblers, sales guys and marketing stooges, people who talk in numbers and people who speak of wheels in motion with the blazing eyes of zealots. In the case of Santa Cruz , there's a pretty broad clash of cultures and ideas and lifestyles that collide in the same space on a daily basis. And, for almost as long as this company has been in existence, every single one of those widely diverse people have stopped every day to scratch the offered belly of Driver 8.

Driver 8 - 130 pounds of fur-shedding, food stealing, dead thing rolling, fire engine howling Malamut/wolf - came into the Santa Cruz cannery as a rescue pup at the age of 8 months when his person, Willie K Bullion, was still working for Bontrager Cycles and SCB was just a one shed operation at the cannery entrance (Willie would like to point out that he got Driver 8 the day that Adri Van Der Poel won the World Cyclocross Championship - February 3rd, 1996). He (Driver 8, not Willie) became known as the Mascot of the then Bontrager race team, and fast developed a reputation for his ability to shed fur and vomit massive piles of dog food. But the girls all loved him...

He has been an icon of this neighborhood, and of this company, for eleven years. If you've ever shown up here, you've probably pet him. Or had him steal your lunch. If you've ever found some dog hair in your Santa Cruz soft goods, or stuck to your new frame, it came from Driver.Every single one of us lost a good friend when Driver 8 passed away two weeks ago. Dogspeed, Driver 8, may there be plentiful dead seals to roll in, and lots of red meat, wherever you are.

Interbike WrapWhile some fun was had at our expense for the SCB "un-booth" Inside Interbike, we were going like gangbusters at the on-dirt demo. With 72 bikes on hand, as well as about 20 of us swapping out pedals and setting up suspension, it was two days of mayhem at the big yellow bus. In between shooting the breeze, pouring beer, grilling meat and watching movies, we somehow managed to also get around 1000 people out on test rides.For everyone who stopped by and said hi, thanks. Hope you had as much fun as we did. Here's to next year.

New Bike Builder Pages!!!

They've been a while in the making, and some of the behind the scenes techno-drama would have made for a great soap opera, but we've got all new and completely awesome bike pages and bike builder pages up and running on our site. Not only are bike pages all new, they really are legitimately awesome. So much so that we thought about trying to trademark the word "awesome" for a while. But then we decided that "awesome" is too awesome a word to trademark, and left it free to roam the world, awesomely.So, check 'em out .These are the first phase of an ongoing website overhaul that our webnologists have deemed will not only be awesome, but which promises to also be totally bodacious. Stay tuned

Superlights and Stigmatas in Stock

It's cyclocross season, and we have a pretty healthy stock of our new Stigmata cyclocross frames in-house. Dollar for dollar, pound for pound, there isn't any real head-to-head competition to the Stigmata. It's made in the USA from Easton EA6X aluminum tubing, weighs a scant 1200 grams (for an anodized 54cm frame), and might be one of the most fun slices of razor sharp race machinery you'll ever sling a leg over.

We've also got Superlights with our unbelievably low priced D/XC kits, in stock as complete bikes, ready to ship. This is the least expensive way for many riders to get a taste of the Santa Cruz experience, and since the bikes come pre-built, they represent a quick and easy way to get out on the trai

Floating Brake Kit

They've been a long time coming, but we now have floating brake kits in stock for Bullits. Designed to increase rear brake performance and optimize long travel single pivot suspension behaviour when braking, our floating brake kit was designed without compromise. The chrome plated floating caliper mount stays attached to the frame when the wheel is removed, and spins on two monster sealed bearings. The teflon impregnated spherical bushings located in the ends of the carbon float rod are designed for many low maintenance miles. The floater kit can be mounted in multiple positions on the seattube, so that you can dial in the amount of squat that works for you. The kit includes a pair of 150 thru-axle dropouts, and is available, right about now, on our webstore or from your Santa Cruz dealer. They come partially assembled, making installation quick and easy with just a couple allen wrenches, and they'll work with ANY 150mm rear hub.

Joe's Corner

Joe Graney is our lead engineer.That's lead as in "you can lead a horse to water," not "the fart joke at dinner went over like a lead balloon."When he's not devising new ways of torturing brats, he thinks a lot about bikes. Joe's corner is his ongoing exploration into the physics of bike and suspension design.This month, Joe tackles instant center migration, and dabbles in cartography[ get your cartography here ]For previous installments of Joe's Corner, Click Here

Friday, October 05, 2007

This year Santa Cruz did something a little differnet at Interbike, Santa Cruz only showed up at the Outdoor demo part of the show......they showed up with 80 bikes!

Probably the weirdest thing for me to get my head around was that two of the new bikes are hardtails.To show that I'm as opened minded about bikes as the next suspension loving rider, behold the Stigmata! The Stigmata is hand made in the U S of A, with Easton's new EA6X tubing which makes the powder coated frame weight in at 1300grams. I've got my name on the waiting list, I can't wait. Hopefully it won't make my hands bleed! I figure it there might be a small learning curve with riding the Stigmata down my favourite trails.

(Stigmata)

Next up is the revised Chameleon, nice new curves and eccentric bottom bracket for those of you who have problems with gears, gives the Chameleon a new lease of life. I can't wait to see one in the flesh.

V10, V1o, V10.......if I had to wish for something in this life, it would be that I was skilled enought to be a downhill racer and own a V10. The fastest way to a down hill podium is on a V10. The new V10 is almost two pounds lighter than the current model. It has more stand over height and a cool (but functional) carbon top rocker. The bike is now designed to ride with less sag, giving the new V10 a livier ride, with razor sharp handling.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Ok, this is going to be one of the crappiest Interbike coverage in the history of Interbike coverage.....mainly because I wasn't there, so this is my coverage from Nelson NZ, it's late (interbike is over), and, well you probably know this by now.....and I'm doing this coverage over several days.We'll start with Ibis, since they have a few new models that we should know about.Ibis Mojo SL.

Ok, so I've been harping on about the Mojo SL for a while, but it exists, they were there at Interbike. What's so special?

If you want one before Xmas, you better talk to me or your dealer....yesterday!Check out the Pictures I found on MTBR.com (thanks MTBR.com, you guys rock!)

Ibis Tranny

The Ibis Tranny, is a hard-tail with a twist. With it's adjustable chain-stay length via the 'slot machine', this bike can be used as a single speed, geared bike (normal), maybe a 29er and can be dismantled for transportation. It also makes the perfect espresso (well that's what I asked for). Anyhow available in 2008, they are still working on colour options. It's light and looks great, 'put ya name down now, you crazy hard-tail riders.......it'll be the last hard-tail you'll need'!

(the slot-machine)

Silk SL

Last, but not least, the Silk evolves into the Silk SL. By using a new layup of the high modules carbon fibre, Ibis have made this frame lighter than last year. The 58cm frame will be sub 900 grams. The other changes are that the Silk SL will have the two colour options (British Racing Green and Red) as well as the gloss carbon finish. Very nice.